Against All Odds
by Slytherin Cat
Summary: Once upon a time, a happy and normal couple couldn't have children. So they asked a witch to help them. But like in all fairy tales, the happy ending has to be earned. Lily was taken from her parents and has to grow up with the witch who has taken her as her daughter... For now. But what happens when she grows up? James/Lily, AU and fairy tale's influence.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Like always, nothing belongs to me. How unfortunate! :p

So here is my story for the Fairy Tale Challenge on the HPFC. I don't think you'll recognize it from just this chapter, as it mostly set the future story, but you never know...

Have fun and don't forget to review ;)

**Against All Odds**

**Chapter 1:**

John and Emma Evans were perfectly normal people. They lived in a small house in the countryside and were very much in love with each other. Emma had been eighteen and studying Literature when she met John, who was in the same college as her, but studying Economics.

They often joked that their meeting had been one of fate. Emma had been eating at the cantina and John was running late for his next class and so was not watching where he walked. He tripped over her discarded bag and had fallen head first in her homemade lunch. Mortified, he had then insisted that he be allowed to buy her something else to eat, but she accepted only if they shared.

In the end, they both got their degrees, he a year before her, since he was older, and dated for a while after. When he asked her to marry him, she of course said yes and they moved in together in the house his aunt had left him in her will when she died. It was pretty well removed from the town, but not too far so they could still go to work each morning. Since Emma loved nature, it was the perfect place and she fell in love with the house as soon as she saw it.

Of course, there had been some work to do in order to bring the little cottage back to its former glory, but it had been worth it. They also had a small garden, and both saw the appeal of growing their own vegetables. Soon, however, it was no longer simply vegetables they took care of, but fruits, flowers and even herbs.

It didn't take long for the happy young couple to be well-known for their homegrown groceries and their kindness among their neighbors, who were mostly old people, because whenever they had too much they would give some of their extra away. Their jobs were going well, and both earned more money than what they needed. They gave a part of what was left each month to charities and saved the other for future children, if they ever had any. John didn't think he was ready to become a father, but his wife wanted a little boy. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manage to get pregnant.

Seeing how hard it was for his beloved to see her hopes soar and then crash each month, the disappointment growing slowly greater with every passing month, he called doctors and specialist to look at her and try to understand why everything they tried didn't work.

Unfortunately, nobody found anything. Desperate for a solution, any solution, he even looked on the internet for someone who could give them some answers. He was ready to go to a fortune teller if it might help. However he didn't find anything interesting there and the answer he was looking for came for someone else.

One of their neighbors, an old man, had heard of their problems and remembered that a few years ago another couple had had problems. Of course theirs had been of a different kind, but for them too the situation had seemed desperate. They had gone to a woman who apparently specialized in these kinds of situations, and two weeks later, it was solved.

Whispers of that woman being a witch living in the woods had spread, but nobody found her. However the old man figured that if anyone could help them, it would be the old Black woman.

"But I warn you. If you find her, beware of what she will ask in return. The cost for her services may just destroy everything you hold dear."

With these ominous words, he left John to his thoughts. That evening, when his wife got home, he told her of what he had learnt. While she was a bit wary at first, the prospect of finally getting pregnant and have a child won her over to that option. Her husband, who by then had gotten used to the idea of having kids and was kind of growing impatient, spent a whole week-end at the village's library for old records of that supposed witch existence.

He found an address. During their next holidays, they choose a day and drove to an old-looking house at the end of a muddy road in the woods. The house was so isolated they even had to leave their car behind and finish by foot. As they moved to knock on the old wooden door, they both shivered and got the fleeting feeling that maybe they shouldn't there.

As Emma raised her hand to knock, the door opened itself creakingly. Looking back at her husband, half-impatient and half-scared, she gestured for him to enter first. It was gallantry of course. The atmosphere inside was gloomy, and the entrance hall smelled like dust even though there was none visible. A blackened mirror was put on one side and on the other a gray cape was suspended to an iron hood. The walls may have been green one day, but they were now marred with suspiciously blood-alike stains.

A short man with a nasty look and mean glowing eyes stepped in front of them. Both jumped. Where had he come from?

"Follow me. Mistress Bellatrix is waiting for you, and we mustn't keep her waiting."

Swallowing their uneasiness of both the place and that newcomer, they followed him to an equally creepy-looking living room. The light was dim, and it too seemed to have seen better days.

"Mistress Bella I have your guests" The way he said the word 'guests' made Emma wonder if they had just been insulted in some subtle way.

"I knew that Kreacher! Are you saying that I'm too stupid to realize when I have visitors? Perhaps you do need another lesson…"

The woman who answered was sitting on what was perhaps the only piece of furniture in the room that didn't look like it would crumble upon a simple touch. She had ink-black hair and grey eyes where a hint of darkness lurked. She looked to be just under thirty. She must have been quite young when she helped that young couple years ago, but why had that old man talked about an "old Black woman"?

She stood up and suddenly looked much nicer as she came in front of John and Emma.

"Welcome to my home Mr. and Mrs. Evans. I've been waiting for you" She added shortly after "I'm sorry for Kreacher. He's an old family servant and he was trustworthy once but I'm afraid he's not all there anymore, if you see what I mean." She even looked apologetic as she said this.

The Evans didn't know what to say. How did she know them?

Finally, Emma extended her hand and thanked her. She was about to explain why they were here when Bellatrix interrupted her.

"Don't worry, I know why you're here."

Emma gaped and John scoffed. She hit his arm and he apologized half-heartedly.

"Someone warned you. Who was it?" He accused.

"But I do not need to be warned. I just saw you coming" The witch answered, a twisted smile on her lips.

John was about to tell her what he thought about her when his wife just him up with a glare.

"Can you help me?" She asked pleadingly.

Her smile widened, showing bright white teeth. "Of course I can. But why don't you sit first?"

Mesmerized and hopeful, Emma sat down on the armchair the witch had just vacated, leaving her husband no choice but to join her.

"You want a baby, right? But you can't have one? Poor dear…" Bellatrix added the last part while gently stroking the hand of the young distressed woman who acquiesced.

"Don't worry, I have exactly what you need." She took a small flask from one of her pockets and held it in front of her. "A drop every morning until you get pregnant, then once a month. You'll see, it does wonder"

As Emma extended her hand to take it, Bellatrix moved back. "However, I think we should discuss my price before that…"

"What do you want? We have money, we can pay you…" John had meant it when he said he was ready to try everything to have a child with his wife.

"I do not need your money." She told him disdainfully before turning back to face his wife. "I heard you have a lovely garden, is that right?"

Emma nodded.

"Good. Then I want you to save me a patch of your garden where you will grow me what I want. And I want a favor."

"What kind of favor?" John asked warily.

"I don't know yet, but I'll tell you when I do. Don't worry it won't be anything too excessive" Her smile as she said this would have reminded him of a shark had he been watching her. Unfortunately, he was looking at his wife who seemed very excited by the prospect of the little purple flask and didn't care about the price.

"Alright, we'll do it" He finally gave in and it was worth it if only for the look Emma gave him.

"Swear you will give me what I want then"

Rolling his eyes, John so swore. As he did so however he got the strange feeling he was making a deal with the devil.

"Wonderful. Now that this is settled… Where is it? Ah… Here is what I want you to grow for me" She handed the Evans the bottle containing the answer to their problem and a small sheet of paper. On it was written half a dozen plants' names. "I'll come and get them when I can. Now go"

They left the house and returned to their car and then to their house. Emma decided to take care of the garden part of the deal immediately and planted everything. She took the potion the Black had given her every morning and three weeks later she was pregnant.

Nine months later Lily Evans was born. She was a beautiful little girl and everything they had dreamed of. She was loved and two years later, she got a little sister named Petunia.

Meanwhile, twice a year they were visited by the Black witch, and the Evans ended up fearing her next visit, fearing what she would ask of them, that she might break their perfect little family.

Bellatrix had had no such intentions until she saw one day little Lily jumping from a tree and _floating_ in the air. It was then she realized what her favor would be.

She entered the little cottage on a sunny Sunday evening alone, and left with a three years old auburn haired girl, leaving behind a devastated family who hadn't been able to object. That was because when she had made the father swear four years ago, he swore on his life. Hadn't he accepted to give his oldest girl, the family would be without a father and she would have taken the girl nonetheless. It was easier that way really.

She intended to raise the girl like a proper witch should be raised, the way she had been. Unfortunately, the world was so polluted right now that it meant she would have to take drastic measures. For now, at least, the girl would stay with her. She would have to change her name though, Lily was far too common. Maybe something after her family tradition of giving stars names… Lucy or Maia… Lucy was closest to Lily, it would be easier to pretend a mistake in case she remembered her real name. Lucy it was then.

"I'm your new Mummy Lucy. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you"

The little witch looked confused and out of place in the old house.

"Kreacher! We have a host. This is Lucy. Lucy, this is Kreacher. You're better than him, so don't let him bother you. If he does, come see me. Understand?" Her tone was sharp, and even if Lily hadn't understood everything, she nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Against All Odds**

**Chapter 2:**

Lucy had always known she was different, not as normal as her sister or her parents. But Bella could see that though the little girl realized that, she wasn't anywhere near believing it was magic at work yet. She had too much of a rational mind for that, and while Bellatrix could easily give her proof, she wanted the girl to keep her spirit as much as possible, for that was important in Dark Magic, and that meant that the young redhead would have to figure it out by herself.

But Bella always found a way around rules, even her own. And so she used magic whenever it was needed and even when it was not. She told Lily stories about magical creatures, about Mordred and Morgana (not Merlin, never Merlin. She didn't want her precious daughter that another kind of magic existed. She hadn't taken her in for her to become a disgusting Light witch after all). All of that in order to ensure the girl would never betray her family like her sister had. Her sweet little Lucy would never do that to her mother, no.

Lucy had gotten used to her new name and new life quite easily. Of course, at first she had been confused and never accepted to answer to Lucy. She had missed her family and Bellatrix had had absolutely no qualms about breaking her faith in those unworthy Muggles and to establish herself as the girl's mother. It was for her own good after all. The little witch wasn't old enough to really remember them anyway, nor was it apparently in her nature to wallow in misery. The plus side was that she now felt indebted to her new mother because she had gracefully accepted to take care of her, something she would be eternally grateful for.

From that moment on, the little girl accepted everything the older witch told her, and did everything she asked diligently. The woman had saved her and the least she could do was help.

Over the next years, Lucy learned quite a few things about magic. Her favorite subject was Potions, and she was very skilled at it, even more so than her mother who had taught her (one of the rare moment when the woman had been proud).

When she was allowed to borrow her mother's wand (she didn't have her own), even if it had to be under supervision, to practice other subjects, she was also quite fond of Charms. Something that didn't please her mother much, since she considered the subject too _Light_, and even more so when she realized that her daughter wasn't very skilled at battle spells and dark magic. But Lucy just wasn't interested. Not at all.

Bellatrix had tried to teach the redhead girl how to kill and when it didn't work, only to disable an enemy (more or less permanently, but more more than less of course), but it seemed that Lucy simply didn't have what it took. In the hope that she would one day, the older witch had had restricted the time her daughter was allowed to spend doing magic. She had also refused to buy her a wand when her birthday came, and had forbidden everyone they knew to give her one until she became adept at the Dark Arts.

And so Lucy found herself twelve and with suddenly much more free time on her hands than what she was used to. She was still allowed to brew, because her potions were really useful for her mother's business, but before she had had several lessons a day. Those where mostly in the afternoon and were about Transfiguration, Charms and sometimes Runes or Arithmancy. Now she only had Runes twice a week. Her mother who had quickly discovered that an idle Lucy wasn't one you wished to know, had allowed her to go outside the house and also to read whatever she wanted.

And Lucy loved books. Once every week, she took her red bike her mother had gifted her two years ago (she also had magically modified it), and rode it to the nearest town where she borrowed as many books as she was allowed, all about different subjects. It was of course a Muggle one, and while it had repulsed her in the beginning to go there, she had slowly gotten to respect them, for she realized they had done so many things she hadn't even thought were possible (and she knew magic).

Her favorite ones were those about love stories. Her mother had stopped her from reading books that weren't academic ones after her 8th birthday, but Lucy remembered nonetheless that the tales they narrated weren't half as good as those the Muggles wrote; there was much more variety too. She also liked to read about mythology and science. The first because it amused her to see the Muggles' view on their culture and the later because it really was interesting to see how they lived without magic. She began to think that maybe her mother was wrong, or at least didn't have all the informations, though she knew better by then than to tell her that.

As she began to love more and more the books she read there, she began to go more and more often, and even to spend entire days in the library.

It was during one of these days that she met another young wizard. Of course, he didn't know she was a witch then, just as she didn't know he was a wizard.

The boy had black hair that fell to his shoulders, deep black eyes and a crooked nose. He wore a scowl so often that Lucy wondered if got stuck. He didn't look very pleasant, especially when he looked at her like she was just dirt under his shoes, but at least he was quiet. The same couldn't be said about the group of young adolescents that often came there._ They_ apparently didn't know how to read, since it was written quite clearly at the entrance of the library that the place was to be quiet.

They were loud, put their feet on the tables, treated the books like they weren't worth their time (really, why were they even here?), brought food and drinks and more often than not got kicked out. And she also didn't like the way some of the boys looked at her.

The blacked haired boy seemed just as annoyed by their obnoxious ways, and they often shared exasperated looks when the group was there, at least until he remembered that he supposedly hated her for some reason and returned to his books as if nothing happened. To Lucy, he was truly incomprehensible, and he was also rude. He didn't even have the decency to answer when she extended her hand and gave him her name after a few months of silent cohabitation. She didn't try again.

It took her an event far more drastic for her to learn his name and also how alike they truly were.

It had been a normal Friday for her. She had left the Black Manor early to spend the day at her new favorite place. She had packed a lunch and ate it in a small park (it was an unusually sunny day)before going back inside for the afternoon to read some more. When she arrived to her usual spot, her silent companion was there, as well as the noisy group of teenagers, sitting a few tables away. For once, they didn't get kicked out. A miracle, truly.

The problems began when she left and went to retrieve her bike. It wasn't alone. Three guys, the one who had been eyeing her strangely were there as well.

Though she felt slightly scared, she was a witch and wasn't about to be cowed by some filthy Muggles. She passed beside them, tense but ignoring their presence. She felt their eyes on her and decided not to waste time trying to take back her bike, accelerated and kept her head down. She could hear them coming after her as she looked desperately for an exit.

Someone suddenly grabbed her arm and put a hand on her mouth, pushing her against the wall. Her eyes widened in panic and she opened her mouth to scream.

"Shut up! And stop kicking me! Do you really want them to see us?"

At these words, Lucy noticed that the three boys who had been following her looking perplexed and angry. They were talking together, but their voices were like muffled. Only a whisper was audible. This screamed magic, really.

Her captor's grip had relaxed and she turned to face him. To her surprise, it was the blacked haired boy who always sat beside her in the library.

"Are you saving me?" She asked disbelievingly. He hadn't seemed the type.

"Of course not. I'd just hate to lose the only bearable person in this stupid place." He still had the nerve to scowl at her like she was nothing, something that really irritated her. Well no doubt that a part of this irritation was caused by the fact that she had been so stressed and was only now calming down.

"Well if you didn't want to help then maybe you shouldn't have bothered at all. It's not like I asked you anything anyway! I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

"Maybe I won't next time if you take it that way!" His words were biting, and though she wanted to retort something equally harsh, something retained her attention more.

"What makes you think there will be a next time?"

"Are you so naïve you think you are their first target? I know them. These guys seem to think the girls belong to them and as of now, nobody ever told them otherwise or caught them, and the girls are too afraid to talk. This group is kind of important in here." His tone was bitter and filled with disgust.

"You mean that nobody ever dealt with them?" She was horrified. "But… What about you? You know what happens. Why haven't you done anything?"

"Why should I?"

She looked at him disbelievingly.

"You hate them. I know it, it's written on your face. Why do you let them get away with this?"

"What would you have me do?" he asked her, an eyebrow raised.

"You have magic! Curse them or something, I don't know. Make it so they're too afraid to do it again! How can you live with yourself if you do nothing?" The last question went unheard as he focused on the revelation that she knew magic.

"How do you know about that?" He took a step back defensively and was now glaring at her with distrust. Not that he had seemed trusting before, but then he looked at her like she was nothing important and now like she was a threat.

"You think you're the only one with magic in the world? I thought you pretentious but I never would have thought you had such a big head! Sure there's enough place in here for you and your ego?" Lucy felt quite proud of herself to finally be able to show him that he wasn't anything special nor was she just dirt under his shoes.

"You're a witch?"

"Surprised?" Lucy mocked, holding back a laugh.

He was looking kind of dumb with his wide opened eyes and gaping at her that way. It must be the first time since she met him she saw him losing his cool. How she wished she had a camera!

"You don't look like one", was all he finally said.

Annoyed, Lucy moved to face him.

"So… What do we do about them?" With a jerk of her head, she drew his attention back on the boys, now smoking in front of her bike (how dare they?). it was painfully obvious they were waiting for her to come back.

"There's no _we_. I go back home, and if you know what's good for you, you'll do the same."

"So you're just going to leave? When you have such a good opportunity to get rid of them? I think not Mister!" Glaring fiercely at him, she extended her hand, palm turned upwards.

"What?" he snapped.

"No need to be so rude really", she told him, half-exasperated, half-tauntingly. "I want your wand."

"My wand" he said protectively, bringing at the same time his right arm closer to his body. Was there a hint of disbelief too?

"Of course." Lucy answered matter-of-factly. " If you're not going to do anything, I'll just have to do it myself!" As she said this, her red hair took a fiery hue and her eyes gleamed determinatively.

Mesmerized, her companion handed a long black wand.

"Thank you. Hmm… What is your name exactly? Cause you still haven't told me."

"Severus Snape", he grunted.

"Well, Severus _Snape_, I'm Lucy Black. And I think we're about to have fun" The redhead smile turned downright wicked.

Though she hated the magic her mother had had her practice, because it made her feel dirty, she had spent years learning it and now that she was angered, she was able to remember just how many curses she had memorized.

Feeling exhilarated to wield once again a wand freely, she stepped confidently out of the protected area and walked toward the smoking Muggles.

She stopped a few feet away and waited for them to notice her. It didn't take long for the taller one to nudge his friends in her direction. As soon as they got close enough, she raised the wand and jabbed it downward, pronouncing clearly the words of one of the spells she found the most interesting.

"_Obliviate_" 

The adolescents' face, which had been mocking since they saw her playing with what they thought a piece of wood, after a brief flash of horror, turned to blank as soon as the spell hit them.

What she found the best part about this spell was its simplicity. There was no overcomplicated wand gestures, no gigantic amount of magic needed or particular skill required. You just had to focus on what you wanted the spell to erase and aim true. Simple.

She had planned to make them forget her very existence. To them, the girl at the library that they had followed in a dark alley never existed. But that wasn't enough to get rid of them, and that was her aim. So she used another spell.

"_Compellis_" Holding the wand tightly, she concentrated on what she wanted them to do. That was the tricky part of this spell: you had to infuse your magic with your intent. Fortunately, Lucy had always been really gifted at this.

"You are sorry for what you did, for hurting all these girls. You never wish to do it again"

Like robots, they repeated word after word what she said. She smiled winningly.

"Remorse are eating at you. The next you will see a police officer, you will have to go confess all your crimes to him. Everything you ever did that you wish to stay hidden, you will reveal it." She paused for a few second, waiting for them to repeat, and added: "And if one day a girl is brave enough to go out with you, providing you're not in prison, then you'll treat her like a princess"

"_Somnus_" She whispered the last spell and they fell like broken dolls on the pavement, snoring peacefully. Twirling the wand in her hand, she went back to where Severus was still in hiding and handed him the wand.

"And this is how you deal with Muggle stalkers"


	3. Chapter 3

I'm so glad people like this :p Thank you everyone :)

Thank to my wonderful beta, **Being A Wallflower** who corrected this. I hope you like it!

**Against All Odds**

**Chapter 3 :**

Lucy had heard (or read, she couldn't remember) somewhere that sometimes the friendships created out of hardships are the best. What they experienced wasn't the most terrible hardship ever encountered but they became friends so quickly that it surprised her. One day, she woke up and realized that she thought of that snarky, sarcastic and often _mean_ boy as a friend.

In the beginning nothing really changed, they still met in the library, sat at the same table but he seemed to ignore her more than usual. The only difference was the calm that reigned there as the group who had been bothering them had mysteriously been disbanded.

She had been really disappointed. She thought they had shared something that night, but apparently he was too shocked by the revelation that she was magic too to talk to her. A shame really. It took him several days to finally risk a glance at her and slide a small piece of paper across the table.

_Meet me outside?_

For a first communication attempt, it kind of sucked. But at least he was willing to meet her and probably finally talk to her. She nodded at him.

Half an hour later, they were sitting on a bench in the park.

"I asked my mother about you. She told me the Blacks were pureblood, very secretive and Dark" The last word was muttered, like it was some sort of an unsavory secret. "What are you doing in a Muggle town then, when you could obviously be amongst your peers", he said with a bitter tone.

So that was it. He was jealous of her. That was his problem. She scowled but internally she was confused as to why he had bothered to make research on her. And maybe a little flattered. Maybe. And just a little.

"I don't think you understood the term secretive in the way my mother does. She doesn't just keep secret, she kept me a secret and we don't have any contact with the magical world. We have a butler and it's always him who goes for errands or meets people. My mother is almost always in our house, and I had to grow up the same way she lived. I spent some time in the forest and in our little garden, but other than that… I didn't really have a lot of human contact." There was a wistful quality to those words.

She sighed. "Actually if I'm here it's kind of because I'm punished. I'm not as skilled as my mother want me to be, and so she decided to let me go here, partly because it keeps me busy and partly because there's no magic and that's a punition in itself."

He could see that she didn't have an ideal family life from that remark only. But he wouldn't say anything, because that would mean he had to talk about his own less than stellar family life. He loved his mother, but he wished she could stand up to his father more.

"But enough about me! What about you? Why is a wizard like you in a Muggle town like this? Not that I'm complaining of course…" She gave him a bright smile and the tip of her tongue poked out of her mouth. Her emerald eyes were twinkling and she was painfully beautiful.

It reminded him what his mother had told him about the Blacks. _"They're the monsters in the fairytales, our monsters even if nobody dare say it aloud. But they are also the monsters so magnificent that you willingly let them take you. Beware my son, beware. Less you suffer as I did…"_

It wouldn't be hard to fell for such a girl, he thought. She was brave, determined, intelligent and very very pretty. And he so desperately needed someone he could talk to about magic that he decided to ignore his mother warning.

"I live here. Unfortunately", he answered with a thin smile.

"I'm sorry for you then. I can't imagine living here. It may be a bit lonely at our home, but I just can't see myself living in such a place. It's so… cramped. And I heard it's even worse in the bigger towns!"

"We could visit one once. I'll show you how it is if you want? But you're right, they are way too many people living in one place." He didn't know why he had said that. She would refuse for sure…

"Why not? It can be funny. We could mock them secretly and confound them."

"What?" Had she just agreed?

"I said yes", she repeated, looking at him with her eyebrow raised.

"Cool. How about next week-end? You could come here early and we'll take the bus to London. It stops at nine on the Saturdays."

She bit her lips, anxious. "I'm not sure my mother would want me to go this far…"

"Who said she had to know about it? We could spend the day in London and be back for six o'clock. She never comes here, right?" She nodded. "So why do you worry? She'll never know and will just assume you spent yet another day in the library."

"You're right. Where do we meet?" Lucy felt the adrenalin rush through her as she planned with her newfound friend a trip somewhere her mother would surely disapprove of if she knew. But as he said, why would she?

"Why not here? I doubt you know where the bus station is anyway so…"

It was true but that didn't mean he had to say it like it meant she was stupid. She glared at him and he ignored her, looking pensively at the sky.

"Can I ask you something?" His voice broke the silence that had settled.

"I think you already did. But you can ask another"

"Why didn't you use your own wand? Don't you keep it with you?"

Lucy stiffened. "I don't have one"

Severus looked dumbstruck. "How can you not have a wand? How did you learn magic if you don't have one anyway?"

"My mother lent me hers. I was supposed to get mine when I turned eleven but my mother decided I was not worthy enough of a wand since I couldn't do the kind of magic she wanted me to." She sighed sadly.

"That's really stupid"

"Tell me about it. But why haven't you bought one yet? You'd just have to hide it or something and your mother would never know about it!" He exclaimed incredulously.

"Why do you mean 'bought'? You can _buy_ wands?" She asked, surprised.

"Of course you can. How else do you think we are supposed to get a wand?" He was looking at her like she came from another planet.

"By crafting it, duh!" She answered. "My mother crafted hers herself, and she was supposed to craft mine as a birthday present. I was supposed to learn too, but she canceled my lessons for obvious reasons." She added mournfully.

"Your mother knows how to craft wands?" Severus exclaimed, bewildered. "Never mind that. Just take some money tomorrow, you'll thank me."

After this, they separated and Lucy went home. There she carefully packed something to eat and placed some of her savings in a little pouch her mother had gifted her. She cooked dinner and called for her mother who was in her lab. She was always down there these days, and she often forgot to eat and drink. Lucy had to take care of her and so had learnt to cook early on.

When her mother arrived, Lucy realized just how much the years had taken their toll on her. The once pitch black hair were now sprinkled with white hairs and a few wrinkles marred her previously smooth face.

They ate in silence and after the dinner Lucy went to her bedroom to read one of the book she had borrowed, knowing she would be too excited to sleep immediately. She was getting her wand soon after all.

When she woke up the next day she was well-rested but had to squash her excitement. It wouldn't do for her mother to wonder why her daughter was so happy to go to a Muggle town after all. Fortunately she didn't see her this morning. Lucy suspected she had once again spent the night down in her lab doing Morgana knows what.

After eating a quick breakfast, she grabbed her backpack and jumped on her bike. She quickly arrived to the village, the familiar trees passing by so fast she didn't see them. Well, that may be because she was hurrying.

She arrived to the meeting place in record time, and just slightly out of breath. She had slowed down at the end so as not to arrive completely dead. He was already there.

"Ready?"

"Of course"

"Then let's go."

The bus was almost empty. Apparently not many people wanted to visit London in this village or in the other ones after. They sat in silence, sometime one of them asking a question about what the other knew about magic and what spells he (or she) had learnt.

When they finally left the bus, Lucy felt more relieved than anything else. She took a deep breath and promptly coughed. The air was really polluted compared to the one she was used to breath.

"Would you please stop laughing at me?" She snapped irritated at Severus. "It isn't funny."

"Of course it isn't" he replied with a doubtful look.

Sighing in exasperation, she looked back at the new town around her. There were people everywhere, entering and exiting shops, and more cars than she had ever seen. They slowly moved away from the bus stop and Severus led her to a small dark street where he stopped in front of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron.

"The Leaky Cauldron? Really? Who chose that name? They didn't have something more obvious?"

"Don't worry, the Muggles can't see us. But behind this door is our world and it's time you met it"

With those words, he opened the door and with a (mockingly) elegant bow, gestured her to enter. As soon as she crossed the doorstep the noise from outside subsided and instead were there multiple conversations. It was just as loud as in the Muggle world but somehow the noise was different, more controlled perhaps. However the smell was definitely worse. She was used to smelling trees, flowers and books but in here reigned the oily smell of heavy food.

As once again she stood there gapping, Severus took her hand and lead her toward the back of the pub, in front of a red brick wall. With his wand he tapped a few of the bricks and the wall opened, revealing an alley, a magical Alley. From what she could see, there were bookshops, potions apothecary, a creature shop… Everything a witch or wizard would or could need in his life was there. How could her mother have hidden this from her? This… this was part of her culture too, why didn't her mother want Lucy to know about it? There didn't seem to be anything truly dangerous out there or at least nothing she couldn't deal with armed with her wand.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Severus commented.

Somehow impressive didn't seem enough to describe what she had in front of her, but for now it would do. She nodded and took a few steps forward, looking at everything around her.

"Come on, there's something you'll want to see" He said as he drag her to an old-looking shop in the south of the Alley. It was not hidden, per say, but she wouldn't have found it by herself. Above the entrance was written in shiny capitals _"Ollivander,_ _Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._".

Seeing this, she turned and hugged her companion with all she had, thanking him over and over again.

Uncomfortable, the young wizard patted awkwardly her back while telling her it was nothing. "Well, what are you waiting for? If you want to see London, we have to hurry so you'd better enter now."

She gave him a scalding look but entered the shop nonetheless. She wasn't about to let pass an opportunity to get her own wand after all.

The store was old, that was for sure. There was no dust, it was well taken care of, but there was this feeling in the air that told them the wand shop wasn't new. The thousands of wands pilled everywhere in the shop may also have been a giveaway, for there was no way all of them could have been created in a single lifetime. When she had seen the "since 382 B.C." before entering she hadn't really believed it, but now that she actually saw the shop she could.

As she went to one of the pile and trailed her fingers against it (they surprisingly came back free of dust, there must be a spell against it), an old man appeared behind them. He had long white hair, silver eyes and a skin so pale in other circumstances Lucy would have thought him a vampire. But she had seen vampires and he lacked the dark beauty they had. He was kind of creepy nonetheless.

"A customer! First wand or replacement?"

Looking at him, still surprised as to where he came from, Lucy answered carefully that she came for her first wand. The old man eyes sparked and he smiled wildly, as if he was overjoyed by this fact.

"Wonderful, wonderful", he muttered to himself while getting out a meter that flew around her, measuring everything from the length of her arms to the width of her ears. "I supposed you are right-handed…" At Lucy bewildered nod, he stopped the meter and took a wand out, handing it out to her.

"Try this, unicorn hair, cherry tree…" Lucy waved the wand but she immediately felt it was not the one for her. It took Ollivander a few other wands (and quite a few broken objects) before he found the good one.

"Willow, unicorn hair, 10¼, an excellent wand for Charms" Lucy took the wand and she felt warmth run through her. It was so different than the cold acceptance she could feel when she used her mother's wand that she could have cried. Holding the wand tightly, she waved it again, muttering the incantation she had learnt by heart all these years ago and watched with pride as a magnificent flower bouquet appeared.

She paid happily the seven Galleons for the wand and then left with Severus to visit the Muggle London as was planned in the beginning. They had fun and for the first time she spent the day doing things she should have done as a child. Maybe her mother wasn't all that perfect after all.

At the end of the day, Severus and Lucy were best friends (not that they really had any other…) and had promised each other to meet every day at the library.


	4. Chapter 4

And here is chapter 4, currently unbetaed. As soon as it is, I will of course change this.

Meanwhile, have fun, and please tell me what you thought of this (means review... :p)

**Chapter 4 :**

Lucy hid her wand away as soon as she came back from her trip with Severus in a hollow Muggle book (the only one she had actually – but it was her favorite), one she was sure her mother would never think of. It pained her to have to spell it hollow, because it meant she couldn't read it again, but that gave the book one more utility and endeared it even more to her heart. And if she wanted to read it again she could always take it from the library.

She always took it with her when she left the house, remembering what happened that last time she had been without and kept it tied to her forearm, hidden by her long shirts. She now saw Severus almost every day and they returned to London a few times, though those times they actually explored the Muggle world as had been planned in the first place.

Her life would have been absolutely perfect if her mother had just given her back the right to do magic. It had now been year since Lucy had last been authorized to cast a spell with her mother and she really missed those easy moments she could spend with her dear mother. There was also the fact that Lucy wasn't blind and she could easily see that Bellatrix' health was not so slowly but surely deteriorating. The once ink black hair was now mostly grey and it was a rare sight to see her mother without a hideous pair of glasses perched on her nose.

It worried Lucy but there was nothing she could do against time, and even less since her mother refused to talk to her daughter about what was happening. Logically, the young witch had noticed that her mother's decay happened way too fast for it to be totally natural, but her heart refused to accept that the woman who had raised her was (perhaps) dying because of an uncontrolled use of magic.

However that didn't stop her from disobeying her mother's order not to do magic. She practiced it with Severus, who quickly realized that it wasn't because the red haired girl hadn't had a wand for so long that she didn't knew more spells than him. The reason for that was that Bellatrix refused to allow her daughter not to know the magic. Maybe she hopped that reading all about the 'wonders' of Black magic would help Lucy realized that she should practice Dark magic.

Of course it didn't work, and when Severus introduced her to his mother, she discovered just how far from nice her own mother was. Eileen Snape (born Prince) was also a witch, though for some reason Lucy couldn't fathom she had married the horrid man that was Severus' father, abandoning her family and the world of magic in which she had been born. She was a petite woman, with long black hair framing her beautiful face.

Lucy never told anyone, but she really wished she could look like her. The woman was nice. Despite the way her husband obviously resented her – for what she may never know and she highly doubted her friend's mother knew it either – and left her to do everything alone in their house, she still found the time and the will to take care of her son and raise him to be a good man.

It was thanks to her that Lily finally began to truly appreciate the Muggle world. Since she probably never would have her own daughter - something she had dreamed of for years when she was younger and still so naïve – she had sort of adopted Lucy in her own family and when she had the time they often left together to go shopping or watch a movie. Eileen was still young – barely seventeen – when she married Tobias, and she gave birth to Severus not even a year after the wedding, so she wasn't very old now.

In a way, Eileen was trying to relive the year she hadn't been able to enjoy when she was younger, and Lucy played the part of the best friend happily since it allowed her to spend time with the older woman, who was quickly becoming like a best friend and a wise older sister who liked mothering her. This didn't bother her at all, and she even found it nice, considering her own mother had been spending less and less time with her since Lucy had admitted her disinterest for Dark Magic.

Less than a year after he introduced her to his mother, Severus asked her out on a date. An actual date, just the two of them. They went to a small dinner he knew she would like and then they went to the cinema – it played the latest James Bond, and Eileen had gotten Lucy addicted to the British spy's adventures. Eileen's husband, Tobias had introduced him to it quite a few years ago, when they had still been in love and when the man still had a decent behavior. Perhaps the woman hoped something between the two teenagers she already considered as her children would come out of it, something more than simple friendship.

She was right of course. After that date there had been many others and before Lucy knew it they were together, as girlfriend and boyfriend and not only as friends. The red-haired witch would always recall these years as the most carefree she ever had and with a certain fondness she could never really explain.

Early in their friendship, Lucy had discovered that her friend was a true genius in Potions. Lucy was quite skilled herself but she would probably never be able to handle several Potions at once like her friend did, nor to create a new one from scratch – she could improve one and had already done so, but she was more skilled with Charms' creation. However working with Severus was far more interesting than working with her mother had ever been.

It was during one of their weekly Potion session – where they tried to create a new hair care potion that could, hopefully, heal the damage the potions' fume had done to Severus' hair. Lily never had that problem since her mother always spelled her hair to protect them but she knew that Severus never had that chance – that an accident occurred.

They had already managed to discover several very potent hair care products, products that they diluted and then sold to the Muggles via Eileen's small shop in an attempt to earn some money. That plan was actually working quite well. Their balms and shampoos were some of her best-sellers and customers kept asking for it.

Severus and Lucy were quite proud of their achievements but that didn't stop them from trying to find to cure for his hair. They already looked better than they did a year ago, but one could still see the damage.

That day – a Saturday – their new Potion exploded. Severus had been away from it, at the other end of the laboratory since he wanted to take other ingredients for their work, but Lucy had been just in front of it. She was knocked out from the blast, but when she awoke her hair had mutated. It had grown until it reached the back of her knees, her red hair seemed to have acquired an inherent shine and they even seemed somewhat alive as they moved by themselves to cocoon her. It was quite a strange feeling but it felt natural and nice.

A chuckle shook her awake from the daze she was in and she opened her emerald to find herself on the couch in the Snapes' living-room, staring in the worried eyes of her new shopping partner.

"Are you okay?"

Lucy sat up groggily, rubbing her head, batting absentmindedly a strand of hair trying to stroke her cheek.

"My head hurts but otherwise I think I'm fine. What happened?" She asked abstractedly as she tried to remember exactly her actions. She knew the potion she was working on had exploded but why? That didn't make any sense, she hadn't even added anything that could have caused the accident… And what was caressing her cheek?

She jumped. "What the hell?!"

"So you finally noticed then?"

Lucy pulled a strand of her dark red hair and stared at it in bewilderment, not really believing what she was seeing.

"What happened to my hair!?"

"Ah, about that…"

"Yeah, what about that?"

"I think you'd better ask my son for that. I still haven't understood what exactly happened down there with the both of you."

As if on cue, Severus entered the room, but he stopped as soon as he saw Lucy. She could see several emotions flashing quickly on his face before he hid them – probably behind his Occlumency shield. According to him it was one of the most useful inventions in magic because it allowed you to have a better memory and a better control over your emotions. Lucy wasn't sure of that since she believed that since we felt emotions there was a reason and that we shouldn't try to hide them. So, even though her boyfriend offered several time to teach her, she refused every time.

"Lucy! You're alright! Thank Merlin, you don't know how afraid you made me when that cauldron exploded. Fortunately, nothing happened to you and apart from fainting, you were fine"

"Fine?" Lucy half shouted, half chocked. "You call this alright? What happened to my hair? Because last I remember, my hair weren't alive nor did they tried to cuddle with me each time they could!"

"Yeah, about that…" He said, echoing unknowingly what his mother had said earlier.

"What?" Lucy was becoming to get really annoyed. Nobody wanted to tell her what had happened. As her mood shifted to slight anger, she didn't notice her hair slowly sharpening and elongating toward the two annoying people who didn't want to give her the answers she wanted.

"You should calm down Lu'." Severus said, glancing worriedly at the menacing hair. Following his gaze, Lucy jumped when she realized that her hair was trying to attack everyone around her. As soon as she realized that however, they calmed down and settled softly on her shoulders.

"I suspect that the product we worked on reacted with your hair and well, tried to heal them but since there wasn't much damage and too much product, it did this."

"So we accidentally created living-hair?"

"Well if that's how you want to put it… Then yes we did" he smirked.

"That's awesome!" She suddenly looked worried, her hair coming closer to her neck, tickling her. "Are you sure there isn't some kind of after effect though? Like, they're not going to try to kill me in my sleep right?"

"Seeing as how they're trying to protect you even when you don't realize it and how they react to your emotions, I'd say no."

"That's cool then." She stopped talking and twirled a strand of her hair around her fingers. When she stopped the worried look came back. "What am I going to tell my mother? I can't just come home with these hairs and hope she won't notice…"

"Well you could always try to just control them…" Eileen suggested, but as the young witch's hair began to form question marks, she sighed. "Never mind…"

"Oh sweet Morgana what is she going to say? How am I supposed to explain this…"

Lucy was clearly panicking, but the sight of her moving hair was too much for the Snapes, who shared an amused look but tried not to laugh outright so as not to upset the red-haired witch. After all she now had a weapon, and she couldn't even control it.

"Well you could just say the truth. You know, that you had a potion accident. You told me she liked to let you work on your experiments, so why would this bother her? Of course, I'm sure she'll be worried about leaving you working alone on it after this, and maybe punish you but I think she'll mostly be relieved to see that you're okay."

This idea seemed to pull Lucy away from her self-desolation. It was actually quite a good idea. She doubted her mother would be as worried about her health as Eileen thought, but she might actually believe that. Of course she could always tell her that she had met a wizard who liked Potions too when going in the Muggle village, but she feared that her mother would forbid her to go back when she learned her daughter had hid some of her activities from her for a while.

When the time came to go back to her home, Lucy bid goodbye to the people she considered as part of her family, and she took the long way home so she could think longer about what to say. Well, she could always hope that her mother wouldn't be home or would be in that laboratory of hers and that she wouldn't see her today.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side that day because for the first time in a long long time, her mother was waiting for her. And though she now looked maybe sixty years old, Bellatrix was far from blind and she immediately saw the change in her daughter's hair.

"Lucy? Is there something you want to tell me?"

The emerald-eyes girl forced herself to calm down, because as she panicked she could feel her hair beginning to behave really weirdly. Of course, it was still too late to hide from her mother that her hair now possessed their own life.

"What did you do to your hair? I thought I had been clear when I said you weren't allowed to do anything else but you potions!"

"Actually this is the result from a potion's accident. We still don't know how it happened…" As soon as she began her sentence she knew she wouldn't escape this. Still she closed her eyes and prayed that her mother hadn't noticed her lapse.

"We?" Damn! Why couldn't have it worked for once? "What do you mean, 'we'? I thought you were alone… Who were you with Lucy?" She asked a question but it really sounded like an order, and her visible age gave her an air, not of vulnerability, but of severity and strictness.

"Well, you see I met someone in this village you allow me to visit…"

"Someone?" If her daughter was going to tell her that she had befriended one of those Muggles, Morgana knew what she'd do.

"Yes" Lucy hadn't felt that shy since she was six and her mother had caught her awaked when she should have been sleeping. "His name's Severus and he's a wizard too."

Immediately her mother's attitude changed from angry and worried to interested. Unfortunately for her daughter and her boyfriend, the young woman never noticed this as she was too preoccupied by the punition she was sure her mother would give her.

"So he's a wizard? That's good then. Why didn't you tell me my dear girl?" By that time they had moved inside the house and were now sitting in the living-room, Bellatrix holding her daughter's hand above the table that separated them.

"You're not mad?" Lucy couldn't believe her luck and stared at her mother in disbelief, her hair using the moment of inattention to move again. It was truly annoying.

"Of course not. I just wish you had told me earlier. So when do I get to meet that mysterious boy?"

"You want to meet him? Seriously? Like you mean it, you really want to see him?"

"Yes my dear"

"That's fantastic! I'm sure I can bring him by tomorrow afternoon." Lucy soon lost herself in planning the next day until she realized something. "You wouldn't mind? I mean, you don't have anything tomorrow?"

"No I do not. Tomorrow's perfect."

"Thanks mum. I'm sure you'll love him!" She had stopped calling her 'mum' years ago but she was so excited she didn't even notice what she said.

Lucy, after another few minutes of discussion, was dismissed from the room, leaving her mother alone to think.

_Yes, she would love him. She even had a feeling he would be perfect for what she had planned…_


	5. Chapter 5

Written for the 52 Weeks of Writing Challenge (prompt: Light) and the As Strong As We Are United Competition (prompts: sunshine, raindrops, cat, joy and scarf).

So… It's been a while? *looks sheepish* Well, I'm back anyway and I will finish this, even if it somehow just keep getting longer and longer.

I'm not really sure about how I feel with this chapter… Please review to tell me what you think.

_Word count:_ 3569

**Chapter 5 :**

In retrospect, she should have known introducing her mother to her boyfriend wasn't a good idea. After all, she had never seen her mother socializing, and she should have guessed there was a good reason for that. But Severus had asked her to meet her mother, and well she had met his, so she had to return the favor, even if she hadn't really wanted to.

But even in her worst case scenario – which had been her mother hating Severus and telling her never to see him again and then forbidding her to ever leave the house again because it would become obvious she had disobeyed the orders not to mingle with 'inferiors' – she'd never imagined what actually happened.

It had all began by a nice and sunny morning. It may sound totally cliché, but the sun had been shining and she could swear she had heard birds chirping somewhere around the house when they usually never did because of her mother's presence. She hadn't been able to bring Severus home with her in the afternoon yesterday like she had first planned to, because his father had requested he help him with some thing or another – she didn't really know what, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Her mother hadn't been too happy about it, but she had taken one look at the blue sky outside – though there was a lot of sunshine, the moon had been visible, a pale shadow unmoving in the sky – and decided that she could invite him back for dinner in two days.

Taking her bike, Lucy raced to the Snapes house to tell Severus the good news. He had asked to meet her mother after all and had been disappointed when he hadn't been able to make it yesterday afternoon. He had tried to explain to his father Tobias, that he already had had plans, but from what Lucy had gathered from Eileen, it hadn't worked well.

She got there in record time. Perhaps she had even gotten some magical help – though she hadn't done anything herself about it – because the ride had taken much less time than she remembered it usually taking. Not that she was complaining of course.

She didn't stay long – she couldn't. Her mother had allowed her to go invite Severus, so he would when to come, but that didn't mean she hadn't punished her, or that her mother had been very happy with her when she had realized exactly the truth her daughter had hidden from her for years. Apparently a night's sleep did more than clear one's mind, because though Bellatrix had agreed more or less readily to Severus' visit when she had asked for it, the next morning had been another thing entirely.

_Flashback:_

When she got up that morning, Lucy hadn't been surprised to see her mother in the kitchen, waiting for her. After all, she had essentially told her that she had been disobeying her for years and the only answer she had gotten was a smile, acceptance and joy? That didn't sound like her mother, and so she had expected the remonstrance to come later.

Her mother was silent, and she immediately knew it would be bad. Her mother never watched her silently. Nevertheless, she settled at the table to eat in front of her mother, trying to finish quickly enough to avoid the confrontation. Alas, it was not to be.

Her hair, probably influenced by the fact that she was so anxious, made themselves known in the worst way. They tried to help her, only being just hair; they failed miserably at it and knocked her breakfast down the table.

The noise her plate did by falling down on the stone floor echoed in the heavy silence, and Lucy quickly got up to try to fix the disaster.

"Let me," her mother said, pronouncing her first words of the day while waving her wand. The floor cleaned itself quickly and the mess vanished.

"Thank you," the redhead answered while pushing her hair back behind her ears. "I'll try to be more careful next time."

"Yes, you probably should. Those hair of yours… They're like a menace. But don't worry, I think I can help with that. After all, I've had my fair share of Potions accidents, and I'm sure I could easily get you rid of this… little mistake."

"They're not really bothering me, you know," Lucy shrugged as she moved to leave the room, only to be blocked by her mother's arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To my room. Why?" Lucy asked, gulping back her nervousness at her mother's expression.

"I don't think you've told me everything yesterday…"

"Ah…" She should have known it was too good to be true.

"Yes, ah. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did lie to me, right?"

"I-no-I didn't mean to…"

"I knew it. And to say I trusted you…" Her mother's face was almost scary now, and so Lucy did the only thing she thought she could: she lashed out.

"You dare talk to me about trust? When you're the one hiding all the time in your dungeons doing Merlin knows what? When I haven't spent a full day with you, talking to you in four years? Tell me _mother_, when was the last time acted like the mother you're supposed to be?"

"I thought you were old enough to be able to endure a day alone. And it's not like I left you all the time, I'm here if you ask me to be. You have no right to reproach me for working! How do you think we get the money to buy what to eat? Or have you forgotten food cannot be conjured? For someone who spends her days in books, learning, you surely do not know much about the things of life!"

"A day alone," Lucy scoffed. "If only it had just been a day. I still remember you leaving me for a week, with no news of what had happened to you. You could have died in a Potion's explosion for all I knew, and you didn't have the courage to send me a message to tell me you had left the house!"

"Well I never planned to leave for so long or you'd have known it! And it's not like something happened anyway. We both are still here, still alive and well so you have no place bringing that back up!"

"I have no place bringing up how pitifully you raised me? What kind of mother abandons her child when she's not exactly what she wants her to be?"

"At least you got a mother! I could just have chosen to leave you somewhere to die! And stop doing this with your hair!"

Lucy's hair was indeed acting like an angry cat and had they been able to make any kind of sound then Lucy was sure they would have hissed. It wasn't what shocked her the most though. What did though were the other words her mother had just said.

"What do you mean, leave me to die somewhere?"

"I…" For the first time, the redhead saw something akin to doubt flash in her mother's dark eyes. She didn't care though. She laughed darkly – a laugh her mother could have been proud of – and left the room as quickly as she could. She didn't bother going back to her room, what she needed was fresh air to think on what had just been said.

Lucy was suddenly feeling very calm, like all her anger had been drained as she yelled at her mother. She crossed the doorstep and steeped into the warm sunshine, letting it wash over her like a healing balm. She had managed to hide it, but what her mother had said to her had hurt.

She strode toward the back of the house, and sure enough, her bike was there, at the same place it was every time she came to take it, but for some reason she didn't want to use it that day. The forest looked more appealing than it ever had and she knew enough of it to be more than able to find her way toward Severus' house. Hopefully he would be able to take her in for the rest of the day. It would provide her a respite she really needed, and perhaps talking with Eileen would help her understand why her mother had acted the way she had.

It was decided, she would go by feet. It would take a much longer time, of course, but she needed time to think anyway. She was thankful she always left her bag with her bike the day before – she had found that there were a few objects she almost always needed long ago, and had decided that keeping a small bag packed at all times with those things in her room was the most practical thing.

She retrieved a simple green scarf from it and wrapped it around her neck. After all, the sun may be warm, but in the forest it wouldn't be there – at least not as much – and she knew from experience that the wind passing through the leaves may create a nice sound to listen to, but it also made a cold enough breeze for her to get sick.

She didn't make it far into the forest though. She had only left the clearing in which their house had been built for a few minutes when she suddenly felt like she was being watched. She turned around, the pleasant feeling her heart had been filled with at finally being outside disappearing and being replaced with dread.

It was how she noticed it. Creeping slowly toward her were what seemed to be the entire forest trees' branches and roots. What had seconds ago been reassuring now felt oppressing and despite how futile she knew it would be, Lucy began to run as fast as she could away from the crawling roots trying to make her fall and slowly swinging branches trying to warp around her.

It was like something out of a nightmare. The forest she had chosen to go through to calm herself was turning against her – something she had never even thought possible. She should have guessed though, that her mother who delved deep into the Dark Arts would have enchanted it to follow her purposes.

As expected, she was not quick enough. But then, who would have been when the very ground you stepped on turned against you? She was cocooned in the roots, wrapped tightly under layers upon layers of hard wood, and dragged back to the house she had just left. Except she couldn't see the sunlight this time, and that instead of disappearing her anger was growing.

She felt more than she saw the roots retire becks to the woods, but she did see the spell her mother cast on her coming. It froze her where she stood, only allowing her to talk.

"Mother, release me!"

"For what? For you to run away again? I don't think so. This time, you will listen to me. This time, you will obey. And this time, you won't avoid me," Bellatrix stated.

"Why are you doing this? Please, just let me go!"

"Don't worry I will. After you finish to explain, and calmly this time, why you found just to ignore what I told you. It was only for your own good, and I thought you knew better than to mingle with inferior people."

"Severus is not inferior to me. If anything, we're equals. He's even more skilled at Potion making than me-"

"Yes, and this," she said while pointing at Lucy's wild hair, "proves it."

"and he actually liked me for me. He has magic too and…" Lucy cut herself off before she could reveal that they were studying spells together, because that would mean telling her mother the one secret she had sworn to herself never to: her wand.

Fortunately for her, it seemed her mother didn't notice her little slip.

"I don't care about him. I told you, what I do care is that you lied to me. I allowed you to visit that Muggle town so you could have those books of yours you like to read for some reason, and this is how you repay me? By betraying my trust?"

"Well I'm sorry! Is that what you wanted to hear? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm not sorry I found a friend!"

"Don't you see? If I can't trust you with something as small as listening to a rule made for your own good, how am I supposed to trust you with more?"

"Alright, what do you want?" Lucy asked as she finally admitted she was beat, her hair falling comically back behind her.

"What I want is for you not to do it again. I want you to trust that I am your mother and that I know best for you."

Lucy hesitated for a few seconds, but she hadn't really intended to do this again anyway, so she swore like Bellatrix had wanted her to.

"Now… let's talk about your punition…"

"What?"

"Of course. You didn't think I would let this go unpunished, right?"

_End Flashback_

So now she was only authorized to visit Severus to tell him when he could come for the dinner, and she knew her mother would not be fooled by how much time she spent for the whole trip.

….

The dinner had come quickly. Too quickly. Before she knew it, two days had flown by, and she had found herself holding the door open for her boyfriend (?) to enter in her home.

She had of course helped her mother use magic to cook, because without it Bellatrix managed to burn water. It was one of the things Lucy had never understood, because the older witch was skilled enough at Potions but as soon as she had to use normal ingredients, her mother couldn't do a single thing. It really was a lucky thing Lucy had learned how to cook, because had they had to rely on Kreacher to cook for them, she was sure they would have either starved long ago or been poisoned.

It had been a quiet affair. Severus, who had been the one to ask to meet her mother, had appeared a bit disappointed her mother didn't like him, but not surprised. She supposed it made sense for him not to expect to be liked immediately.

Lucy longed for the awkward dinner to be over, but it seemed that the fact her mother didn't like her best-friend didn't stop her from dragging the evening on and on. Each second seemed to last an hour but they finally began the dessert – around eleven o'clock.

She should have guessed something was wrong when her mother offered to escort him back to his house – because it was dark outside, and 'the forest was dangerous by night'. But she just thought that maybe after so many hours her mother had finally warmed up to him a little, and that at least she didn't want to forbid them to see each other anymore.

Lucy didn't remember why she had chosen to follow her mother that night. Perhaps it was because she had wanted to see what would happen between Severus and her once they were alone – to see if her mother had truly accepted the young man or if she had only put up with him for her daughter's sake. Or perhaps she had known, somewhere deep inside her that something had been wrong with that proposition and she had hoped her presence to stop whatever would happen.

The thing was, what she witnessed that night was the most terrible thing. Severus never made it home, and even had she possessed all the magic in the world, Lucy wouldn't have been able to stop her mother from enacting the ritual she had chosen to do. Her mother had insisted he came that night, and she should have realized that a full moon and her angry mother would never mean anything well for her, especially considering her love for Dark magic.

Of course, she had never really been interested in her mother's books, and so there was no way she could have known there was a ritual one would use to bring back youth using the sacrifice of a young wizard on a full moon night. But she had been following her mother from afar – she didn't her to realize someone was behind her – and had only arrive to see Severus' lifeless body burn to ashes.

With tears in her eyes, she had run back to the house, taking advantage of the fact that her mother was currently rejuvenating, a process that looked painful enough for her not to hear her sobs and her heavy footsteps on the forest's ground.

She knew she couldn't stay here, not after what she had just witnessed, but she wasn't sure she would be able to get away. After all, she now knew her mother had charmed the forest and there was a chance she would be caught before she could even leave the clearing, but she had to try.

Lucy stood in front of her mirror, wiping her tears away and bringing her hairs in a high ponytail as she put on clothes more appropriate for running in the forest. A bag with some changes and what little money she had was quickly packed and she left after checking her mother hadn't come back.

She didn't really know where she was going. All that mattered was that she managed to get away from her mother. No, not her mother. There was no way that _thing_ that had just killed the boy who had saved her life – someone who mattered to her – was still her mother.

She thought about going to Eileen, but would the woman really be able to welcome her in? After all, her husband would be here, and from what she had heard of him, he wasn't one of the nicest men. And could she impose herself on her when she had just gotten her son killed? How would she even be able to tell her that Severus was dead when it was something she had a hard time realizing was true?

It turned out she wouldn't have the opportunity to find out though. Kreacher had always been so discreet she never noticed him watch her sneak out of the house and into the woods. She was too preoccupied with not tripping in the dark to see her mother appear right beside her, but she felt the spell bind her in place.

"Going somewhere?"

"No," Lucy answered anxiously, trying to look as innocent as possible, and calmer than she was. From where she was, and even with as little light as there was, she could see that her mother indeed looked younger than she had a few hours ago. The wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes had smoothed out, and her hair was back to the shiny jet black she had known.

"I think you're lying Lucy. Hadn't we agreed for you not to lie to me anymore? I thought you wanted me to be able to be proud of you…" Bellatrix had an ugly smirk on her face, and it was enough to send shivers down Lucy's spine. It seemed completely out of place on the now handsome and young face but the redhead felt like it was the truest emotions she had ever seen on her mother's face.

However the words struck something in her, and before she knew it, she found herself yelling that she had seen everything and that there wasn't any way she wanted someone like that to be proud of her, which she was sure wasn't something she had ever intended to reveal.

It was how she had found herself locked in a tower – apparently her mother had no imagination – somewhere in the forest, unable to escape without casting the counter spell. Of course, said counter spell had to be cast from the outside of the tower.

That tower was easy to go to, but it wasn't so easy to leave behind. A spell had been cast around it to make it so that no matter in which direction you went you always found yourself back to her prison, unless you knew the exact password her mother had set for the illusion. And she didn't know it. She had a wand though, something her mother thought she didn't, and books of spells.

If she knew all of this, it was because Bellatrix had only been too happy to tell her everything she had put into erecting what would be her home and how impossible it would be for her to leave it until she accepted her fate.

And that was the worst part. Her _fate_. According to her mother, she had to take her place one day, but Lucy would sooner renounce to her magic than accept to become what like mother.

And so she found herself locked in a tower she couldn't leave because she had ignored her instinct which had told her to never have her best friend and her mother meet, watching through her only window as raindrops blurred the whole world gray.


End file.
